All posts tagged ‘Penny Arcade’

The holiday season has started in earnest, and the holidays are a perfect time to think about how to give back to the community and those in need. In 2003, Penny Arcade creators Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins founded the Child’s Play charity to encourage gamers to donate to the Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Since then, Child’s Play has expanded and given millions of dollars to children’s hospitals across the country. Gamers can donate not only funds, but also games, consoles, and movies to lift the spirits of ill children who are spending significant time hospitalized.

Child’s Play fundraising drive is now in full swing. To donate to a local children’s hospital, you can use PayPal, or browse the list of hospitals and select a wishlist to see what they are looking for.

If you’re looking for a different way to spend your Black Friday instead of shopping, check out the Dance Central Marathon! Gamers get their groove on all day to the hits of Dance Central 3 and ask for donations in support of Child’s Play.

I am no longer a GameStorm virgin. I have lived in Vancouver, Washington pretty much my entire life, and have never made it to a GameStorm before this year. It’s kind of like living in New York and never going to see the Statue of Liberty. This year marks the 14th GameStorm which has amassed 200+ (for a total of 1200 gaming enthusiasts) more people than previous years. Why is this? Well, some people I talked to conclude that we spend so much of our working time in front of a glowing monitor that does not talk to us, console us, or do much of anything except mock us, that we crave a warm person with a pulse to interact with.

Today I have learned what to do differently next year.

I need to register for the games I want to play ahead of time — months ahead of time. The very popular games (such as Quarriors) were full for the entire weekend.

Taking the kids is a good thing — at least for awhile. There was an entire room of kids’ activities that included a motorized marble run, face painting, board games, books, crafts, and other activities. This room was great for kids age 5 and under. However, I don’t think I could take my two-and-a-half-year-old out of this room really.

I will register for next year on the last day of the convention.

A motorized marble run for the kids!

My six-year-old daughter would have a blast here (she did not attend the convention this year, but is signed up for next year) — in the children’s room or otherwise. My two-year-old son? Well, he had fun in the children’s room until he was both hungry and tired. He was able to soak up a nap in his own bed while I waited for my husband Tim to play tag-team so I could head back to the convention.

My Locke and Key hand...

When I made it back, I was in card game heaven! I lurked around the Cryptozoic Entertainment table to play Locke and Key and Penny Arcade, the Game — Gamers vs Evil. Both were entertaining in their own way. Locke and Key I will devote an article to soon since I received a review copy. Penny Arcade is a deck-building game with cartoon pictures in the style of the Penny Arcade comic strip. It’s good, clean, adult, fun…well, okay, it isn’t clean but it is adult, and certainly snicker-worthy. Personally, I think it was better than Dominion since you can spend your money and energy on multiple purchases and not just one action per turn. I also managed to sneak in a game of Pokémon. This was difficult considering the key demographic for my favorite game is about twenty years younger than the average GameStorm attendee.

Making our Locke and Key plays...

Eventually, my card hands started dancing in front of me, and I knew it was time to go home and get a good night sleep to have another full day of gaming tomorrow…

The second two days of PAX were a whirlwind compared to the first. With concerts going til the wee hours of the morning, and geek celebrities playing Dungeons and Dragons, I had to recuperate for a couple of days before sharing my experiences with you.

Aquisitions Inc: Watching Wil Wheaton, Scott Kurtz (PvP), Mike Krahulik , and Jerry Holkins play Dungeons and Dragons in front of a full Paramount Theater AND a full overflow theater, is a thing of beauty. The Last Will and Testament of Jim Darkmagic I was written on a volleyball if that’s any indication. There might have been some disturbing Luke and Leia moments and an evil cat named Gygax. Add to this our bards for the day were the legendary Paul and Storm; a perfect Dungeons and Dragons balance of humor, roll play, vulgarity, and killing things. My husband and I have listened to all of the Penny Arcade Podcasts of this group playing D&D, so this was well worth the wait in line.

Jonathan Coulton plays the Zendrum during Mr. Fancy Pants and Want You Gone.

Saturday Night Concert: Normally I am more excited about Paul and Storm than Jonathan Coulton. However, this time around was different. With the release of Jonathan’s new album, Artificial Heart, came new songs for which I have a special appreciation. Most notable for me is the song “Good Morning Tucson” where Jonathan sings about morning talk show hosts who go crazy. As a former television production person, I can say his song is dead on – that job will drive you nuts!

Geeky Parenting Panel: It was exciting to be sitting along side GeekDad writers that I have looked up to for the past couple of years. Dave Banks shared why 3D should die a horrible death, I shared family friendly alternatives to adult games as I shared in Balancing Board Games and Babies Part II, Rael and Asha Dornfest shared educational games and educational moments in gaming, Michael Venables pointed out different aspects of why kids are attracted to gaming, and Jonathan Liu had some great alternatives for bad kids games us parents cringe at the idea of playing. Ken Denmead and Curtis Silver roamed the audience taking questions and comments. Being that the panel was in the hotel adjacent to the convention center, and the panel was Sunday at 10am, there weren’t as many people as we expected. However, it was a great group of parents and future parents who wanted to be there and wanted to hear what we had to say. I was grateful to meet a few of our GeekMom readers, and talk one-on-one about violence in games and when to introduce gaming to our kids.

Two new geek mom's at the Geeky Parenting Panel (photo by Tim Post, used with permission)

Because our kids were with us, we weren’t able to get in quite as many games as we would have liked. There were oodles of boardgames to see and try. For much more detailed information on these, please check out Jonathan Liu’s post over on GeekDad about his PAX experience. Hey Jonathan, next year may I just be your gaming assistant – it looks like you had a great time playing games!

Tim and I had a wonderful time at PAX. I am still in shock that I was there representing GeekMom, even if it was in a small capacity. I can’t wait to see how Jerry and Mike plan to top it next year. What were some of your favorite moments?